Turkey Forces Syrian Passenger Plane to Land

By

Joe Parkinson And

Nour Malas

Updated Oct. 10, 2012 4:38 p.m. ET

ISTANBUL—Turkey scrambled fighter planes late Wednesday to force a Syrian passenger plane en route from Moscow to Damascus to land in Ankara due to suspicions the plane was carrying weapons, the latest in a series of episodes that have dramatically heightened tensions between the neighbors and underscored the regional dimensions of Syria's deepening conflict.

Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu and Turkish officials confirmed that the plane, a civilian aircraft, was being searched on the runway at the capital's...